BOMBS AWAY!
Scared? Well i am...it's been TOO long since my last "decent sized" (lol) post. Just to let you know wuz UP - i just started an AEGD residency last july. This program has got me running around dade and broward county like a headless chicken. (yes i have been reduced to POULTRY - sigh) Life outside of postgrad has been even worse...too many things going on....at least its been somewhat FUN and at times a bit KOOKIE.  *heh*
Ehhh - lez c....this was sometime in august of '05. Kyung, Sam and I (pictured here) along with Joe,James and Elisa went kyacking at some park in Jupiter. DESPITE some MINOR drama on the way up (ROFL! ...it was entertaining to say the least) we all had a great time. Actually...what made my day - was hanging out with James's MOM afterwards! (lol)
I also had the privlege to attend a traditional ISLAMIC wedding reception. This is my dear friend and colleague - FADI and his lovely wife. Although i didn't know what was going on about 90% of the time ( a lot of yelling and raising da roof  ) - it was good to get away from yer "average" american wedding reception.
Grrrr - Hurricaine Katrina hits Miami on the 25th of August at 7:00 P.M. MAAAN - what a pain!! It wasnt just HOT - it was STINKIN HOT!!! How hot????
Because we didnt have power for a week, it was FREAK'N 88 degrees INSIDE OUR HOUSE. Look at the bright side - i ended up going to Jon's house (FOO U NEVER LOST POWA - YOU SUCK! hehe) for some massive AC blowAge... and subsequently - i started playing MAPLE STORY! (My current obsession now - but it's tapering down) What is maple story? It's an online Korean RPG...check it out:
http://www.mapleglobal.com/
This game will CONSUME you - please play with caution. (heh)
On to labor day weekend in September!
OH yea baby - church retreat...FIRE IT UP! Well - i didnt have any fire on the way up (lol)...y? Just LOOK - PRECISELY! (JK - luv you guys!)
Twaz good too see old friends! Some people were SO excited that they didnt want others to know they were there. Ray is one such individual - haha.
To sum up what we did: EAT - SLEEP - WORSHIP
...And worship we did!
Hahaha - we managed to have some fun! Eww gross - whos FOOT is that? 
There's something about watching people stuff their faces with marshmellow...thaz SOOO entertaining.
Month later - my family took trip to NYC to visit relatives
Buffet style! YUMMEE
This pic is very dear to me because it was taken with my favorite grand aunt - GOO PWA. She has been in and out of the hospital this past year and its GREAT to see her up and about. (Praise God!) Please pray for her. THANKS!!!
Sorry James - I dun have any pics of us hanging out in NYC. Thanks though for showing me around on such short notice! We gotta cheeel some more when i come back up.
The end of October WASNT SO PLEASANT!
Sigh - HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! What a crazi 2005 hurricaine season. Although we managed to dodge other hurricaines after Katrina...we couldnt dodge this one: Hurricaine Wilma. Thank God it died down in strength before it hit us (around a category 3). Still it caused a lot more damage than Katrina...it took a WHOLE month to restore all the power back in South Florida. To be honest - this hurrcaine really TICKED me off. YEA YEA - we miss school/work....YEA YEA its a good way to spend time with your family....but trust me - IT'S NOT FUN! (sigh) I used to think it was fun - u know - a little wind here and there...a little destruction...its awesome power is absolutely mesmerizing! But what you dont know is how it affects your life - the way you live...nothing but PAIN. -_-
Still - what happened in Miami PALES in comparison to what happened in other places such as Louisiana. Let us continue to pray for the recovery effort from the 2005 Hurricaine season.
On a lighter note...
I have NOOO idea when this was - but apparently - MAX and golda came down to visit for a few days. GURL - Y are U so camera shy?!!! 
JYAF day! Stan, Joyce, Me, Pui, and B...holdin it down as USHERS.
On to Orlando!
In the middle of November - a whole bunch of JYAFers hopped into a van and headed for Orlando...to celebrate the Orlando Mission's 10 year anniversary. (is that right?)
Dood - we had such a FUN time that i didnt wanna leave...right CHRIS?!! hehe
LOL - a few weeks later - Judy, Bla Bla and I went up to Gainesville to visit friends! YO LEE FAMILY - thanks for letting us CRASH AT YER CRIB - you guys ROCK.
LOL - a few weeks later - I WENT ON YET another road trip... this time to Jacksonville. (SOLO BABY) I drove up right after finals. and stayed over at Tim and Eunice's crib.
DOOOD - you guys have such a NICE crib. (you peeps need to visit these folks!) Thanks for letting me hang out witchas!! WE GOTTA DO IT AGAIN!! Also - it was great to see other OLD friends ===> IAN/EVY - luv you guys, praying for ya'llz and the NEW baby (woohoo) ====> PACK FAMILY, what can i say - yer like my second family...i promise to come visit you more in J-ville! (Mr.Pack, sorry about USC  )
CALI TRIP! GOONY GA GA!
I have been waiting for this TRIP since the beginning of last semester. This is my 4th time visiting LA and it keeps on gettin BETTA and BETTA! With the promise of SNOWBOARDING - i just couldn't pass it up!!!
Day1(December 23rd): Let the eating FEST BEGIN!
As soon as i got off the plane - my brother and sis in law took me to IHOP! 3 hours later (lol) - we went to another restaurant called THE LOBSTER. (located at the pier in Santa Monica) I ended up eating fillet mignon filled with dungeness crab. D-E-N-G it was GOOOOOOD! Here's the link to their site if you wanna preview the menu.
http://www.thelobster.com/LobsterNew/flash/Done/Frameless/homepage.html
Needless to say - i slept well that nite.
Day 2: Christmas Eve
That morning - i went on a 12 mile run with JAMIE and TAE. What a SWEEEEET run - we ran from Venice beach to Santa Monica - and then all the way up to Brentwood and back! Thanks TAE for picking out the route!
After some last minute shopping and a quick snack - Sandra, my bro and I headed over to Griff and Alice's crib for some IN - LAW family time. (hehe)
Oh YEEA baby - more yummee food!
CONGRATULATIONS SANDRA AND HAI-EN!! ( JK!!!!!!) LOL - i couldnt help it! My dad would love this pic. 
After dinner - we had a white elephant gift exchange.
Urr - someone (AHEM!) packed two of the same gifts. haha
Greeeaaat - Discovery Vidoes. Greeaaat - it was eventually STOLEN by my bro's father-in-law. Greeaaat - i picked up a korean serving plate that no-one would steel. Greeeaat - i tried to LEAVE it at my bro's crib but he managed to SNEEK it into my bag before i left. (GRRRR - LOL)
Thanks Griff and Alice fer havin us ova! (Btw - it was Alice's Birthday - yay!)
Day 3: Christmas Day!
What a better way to spend Christmas day than at CHURCH! (which started at 1 in the afternoon ) After church - we went shopping for dinner and last minute ski trip supplies.
Mad props to Hai-En and Sandra for a wonderful Christmas dinner! (Gina and I were on clean up duty - heh) Afterwards - we opened up gifts.
Day 4: TIME TO SNOWBOARD!! Weez going to BIG BEAR!!
Yeaaa - it wasn't that cold before we left...that worried us.
Sandra - Am i going fer real?! O.K you can stop pinching me now...
The "Pre-OP" pic before we hit the slopes. From right to left...Jamie, Matt and of course the "usual" suspects. Ehhh guys - WHERE'S the SNOW? This is my first time snowboarding - i need SNOW!! (hehe)
Well - there was snow...well fake snow at least. (lol) I did o.k. my first time. You can read about it on my bro's xanga site.
http://www.xanga.com/joonggook
To sum it up... A TON OF FALLING = A TON OF PAIN. (sigh) But at least i perfected the "Falling Leaf" technique. (hehe - sounds Kung-Fu-ish...too bad its not.) Mad props to Jamie for helping me out in the afteroon! You rock gurl!
After snowboarding - we were all BEAT. Time to go back to our "PIMP" cabin! (iono how sandra found this place...not only was it next to the slopes but she got it for a reduced fee. biggie ups sis!) For pics of the interior - go back to my bro's site - lol.
After enjoying a masterfully done dinner... we all gathered around the fireplace and RELAXED. Some people needed it more than others...sorry about yer foot Matt - i hope you feel better now.
Day 5: Go with the Flow....
We all slept like ROCKS that nite. After another YUMMY breakfast prepared by the usual suspects, we packed up and headed into town. DOOOD - I ALMOST DIED: 
I GOT MAULED BY A BEAR! LOL
I guess that's why we decided to go to the zoo afterwards. LOL Believe it or not - the zoo was actually pretty interesting despite its small size. Urrr - O.K. im not tellin the truth - the reason i said it was interesting is because we saw eagles feeding on mice! Seeing and Hearing them TEAR apart those things - WHOA KEWLNESS! After seeing them slirp the mice's intestine like spaghetti - i couldnt watch anymore. haha (if you wanna SEE a small clip of the feeding fest - go back again to my bro's xanga site - lol)
Haha - aww how cute! This is an owl named YODA. Why is he named YODA - well he's about the SIZE of my hand and fully grown.
After taking a few more pics - we decided to leave town and go back to LA for some soon doo boo at BCD! (does anybody know where i can get some good korean food in miami - please tell me!!)
Day 6 and 7: R/R and Korean Videos!
My back was like "RAW MEAT" after snowboarding...so i took it easy. After catching up on some reading and hitting up Maple Story...it was time to watch KOREAN VIDEOS! So - which one did i watch?????
Presenting the worlds "CUTEST" gurl -Song Hye Kyo- in the korean drama: FULL HOUSE! (Mebe thaz why i like KOREAN dramas so much - hehe) Actually folks - i watched most of the episodes last year BUT i had to leave with two episodes left. (double GRRRR) Soooo - not to miss anything - i decided to watch it all over again plus the last two episodes. (yay!) If yer a korean video junkie - you'll like this one! (highly recommended)
I learned the 3 bears song! (well i just copied it from a previous convo lol):
gohm seh marigah han jeebeh eessuh [3 bears in one house]
appa gohm, umma gohm, ehgi gohm [father bear, mother bear, baby bear]
appa gohm eun ddoong ddoong hae! [father bear is fat]
umma gohn eun nahl shin hae [mother bear is skinny]
ehgi gohm eun nuhmoo gi uh wuh [baby bear is so cute]
ooseuk, ooseuk, jahl han dah! [ ^__^, ^__^, ur doing it well]
What's up with BEARS on this trip anyway. haha
Wednesday Nite: California wrap and Watched Narnia
Thursday Nite: Thai Food, Shopping and Coldstone
Day 8: IT'S MY BIRTHDAY (I'm 21! seriously!)
WHOA - i thought this day would never come. The day where i get a WEEE bit older. Foh relz guys - im really 21 ...ask anybody.
Since Sandra stayed at home to do some work - she took me out for MY birthday lunch!
IN-n-OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maaaeen - this place is ALWAYS busy...just check it out - the line behind us extends OUT and DOWN the street. (craziness)
What did i get???? Here's a sample!
Thaz just wrong man...cheese and sweet chopped grilled onions on top of fries that have been freshly cut!!! Sigh - i really need to move to cali....
This is the cake that sandra made for my birthday. TRUST ME - it's GOOOOD! (yay sis!)
I dont know if you can see or not on the menu...we ended up going to Sushi Masu for my dinner that nite! Muahaha - here's my chance to GO BONKERS with the sushi. What did i order?
I ordered #3 - the Chef's Recommendation. (evil laugh) Then....the waitress asked how much i wanted to spend...i gave her "an AMOUNT " and BAM the feast was on. CHECK THIS OUT.........
Actually - these pictures are in reverse order in the time the dishes were served. I didn't know half the time what i was eating.... but it sure was heavenly! If you ever go to this restaurant in LA - you MUST...i repeat - MUST order the white tuna!!!
Afterwards - we headed to Gina's crib to cheeel and eat some yummy cake.
Uhhhh - yea - errr ...i was pretty delirious from eating - but there's always room for CAKE!
Day 9: New Years Eve
After waking up @ 12 in the afternoon - we all had some lunch and headed out to shop for the new years party at my bro and sis's condo. We had to hurry up because at 6 - we had to leave for the CLIPPERS game!
THe game was aaaite considering we were sitting in the....
Nosebleed section! Actually - we sat in the LAST ROW at the VERY TOP of the Staples Center. Look at the bright side -the tickets were FREE. (tyte!) Too bad the Clippers were blown out.
We had to hurry back after the game cuz the PARTY was about to start!
There were so many people! But hey - the more - the merrier.
You guys ROCK: James, Yung(sp?), Tae, Steve, and Sandra
Hey sis - look at my boo-gars! LOL (jk)
Haha - my friend Dave brought over this gaming system with like 77000 old skoo games. (WHOA) So what game did we all hit up first? OF COURSE....CONTRA! (what was that code? up up down down left right left right B A select start? haha) It was scary when EVERYBODY knew where all the weapons were and the layout of the boards...even the girls! I didn't know Koreans were so FANATICAL in their gaming. You could FEEEEEL the tension as we were playing.
3 - 2 - 1...Happy New Year!!
Day 10: Church and Bulgogi
WOW - all the important days landed on sunday. (sweeet!) After a truly inspirational church service - we all went to the supermarket to go look for something to cook foh dinna. It was decided at the last minute to have our OWN BULGOGI BONANZA. (lol) I know don't who came up with the idea - BUT MAN WHY DIDNT WE THINK OF THIS BEFORE?!!!
Let me tell you - besides the sushi...this was the second best meal i had in LA ===>HANDS DOWN! Not only did we have some yummee bulgogi (beef and pork), but we had mabo tofu (jazzed up korean style) and some korean dish that tasted like nian gow. The real FUNNY thing is that it was the CHEAPEST MEAL we bought. ROFL!
I don't know "what the HACK" you were doin GINA - but it's hilarious. How many times do i have to tell you...STOP flipp'n yerself off. haha
Day 11: (Jan. 2, 2006) Last offical day in LA & MORE food!
After waking up somewhat early (after 10AM - lol) we decided to hit up BESY BUY for some PENG-style-post-Christmas gift exchanging.
You know what i just realized - there's just TOO many places to eat in LA that are gooood. So what better place to eat for my last lunch then at PORTO'S BAKERY in glendale. DOOD - this is another place YOU MUST GO TO!!!! I ended up eating some chicken/blackbean/goat cheese sandwhich (yummmooo) and shared some weird-sinful desserts with bro and sis. Check out their web site:
http://www.portosbakery.com/
After hitting up the glendale mall for like 5 hours (sigh) we went home - picked up Gina - and went to:
and had....
It's called the HAWAIIAN BURGER. (sooo goood!)
To top the night off - we got coldstones AGAIN! (lol) And how did i feel after all that:
Uggggh! Nappee Time!!
Time for one last pic! DOH - sis...what the HACK - whats that eiffel tower doin on yer head. (lol) RETAKE
MUCH BETTER!!
I'd like to take this time to thank Hai-En and Sandra for letting me stay at their crib and showing me the "BEST" time I've had in LA! Let's DO IT AGAIN THIS YR!!! (BRO....i hope you aren't broke now....)
i dont know about you - but all this talk about food - got me hungry again! Hope you guys enjoyed the SUPA DUPA long post!
OUT | 
(DA BIEN BEWARE!) SO....anybody...hows mr.toliet doing these days?
